Saturday, November 3, 2012

Keeping cool when you're powerless

My blog entry last year, prior to Hurricane Irene, covered some of the basics of preparing food in case of an emergency. We had a few days of the "calm" before Sandy, so I boiled the eggs and made a few meals that would keep longer in the fridge, cooked, or even at room temperature, if the fridge is no longer cool. Not knowing what to expect, or if indeed the storm will hit, it's hard to know what to do. But as Sandy showed us, it's better to be safe than sorry. Fortunately, I caught a tip on TV, in the media frenzy before the storm, to fill up tupperware containers with water and freeze them to make large ice blocks, in case the power does go out.

The minute our power went out, we ate the ice cream, transfered these ice blocks to the fridge and emptied out the automatic ice maker, putting all the cubes in Ziploc bags in hopes that they would help keep everything cool (and to save our freezer from a mini waterfall!) Our four days of darkness weren't so bad – preparing the food during daylight hours, and having candlelit dinners every night. We pretty much ate our way through our fridge, starting with the more perishable foods first. Once the fridge is no longer cool, take out the fruit and vegetables, better to have them outside than inside, where there's no air circulating. Turning the power off at the mains and keeping the doors open kept the inside of the refrigerator from really smelling. I good time to give the fridge a good clear out and clean!!